The nursery at Mottingham Hall, in Bromley, may be located on the outskirts of London but it is set in four acres of beautiful grounds. The setting's passion for outdoor play, an award-winning Forest School programme, looking after the environment and being sustainable have led it to partner with a local land-based studies college to establish a small farm and allotment so that the children can get even more hands-on with caring for animals and growing produce.
Nursery manager Emma Savage and director Melanie Pearce explain how the nursery regards children as ‘researchers’ and aims to nurture children's natural curiosity in the world through an ‘in the moment’ enquiry-based approach which ensures that learning is challenging and purposeful.
Emma says, ‘Having animals is a big commitment – they need the same love, care and support as children – so we have conducted a lot of risk assessments, training and have liaised with local Capel Manor College to research what animals are appropriate to have with younger children and are suited to our grounds. Our director Melanie and other staff members have undertaken training on animal management and we recently employed a student from the college to come in to the nursery to support us and work with the children and staff to show us how best to care for and handle the animals.’
DOWN AT THE FARM
Currently residing in a large fenced-off area of the nursery grounds are four chickens, rabbits – which the children named Stitch and Barbara – along with Muffin and Cupcake the guinea pigs who are from a rescue centre. The children are also excited to soon be welcoming a pair of pigs once college students have finished designing appropriate living accommodation for them.
Beside the small farm is an allotment where the children grow a range of crops which they then give to parents to take home, eat in the setting or feed to the animals. They have successfully grown a wide range of vegetables and recently grew a big pumpkin which took pride of place at a Halloween party that they held in the nursery's woodland. ‘We encourage the parents to take vegetables we’ve grown home. A while ago we harvested a lot of tomatoes, so they went home with the children with a recipe for making passata so they could use them for their pizzas or other cooking,’ says Emma.
‘A big thing we’ve found is the children are very proud of what they’ve grown and can't wait to see what it tastes like, even if it's a vegetable that they’ve previously said they don't like.’
Children experience the direct link between the animals and crops by feeding fresh produce they’ve grown to the animals and also adding the animal waste to the compost heap for later use on the allotment once it has decomposed.
WELLBEING AND OTHER BENEFITS
Emma says having animals at the nursery benefits the children in a wide range of ways from the educational aspects of learning more about growth, lifecycles and farming practices – including where meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables come from – to the promotion of children's self-esteem and wellbeing through caring for the animals and crops. The farming is helping with children's team work, developing relationships with each other and the animals and promoting verbal communication along with compassion and empathy.
‘The children enjoy feeding, cuddling and stroking the animals,’ says Emma. ‘The chickens are laying eggs and the children enjoy carefully collecting their eggs from the nesting box and discussing the different things that we can cook with them.’ Children ask lots of questions, including how big the animals are going to get and how many eggs the chickens will lay.
Cuddling and stroking animals has been found to stimulate the release of neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, which help to make children and adults happier while also being calming and helping to combat anxiety. For this reason, the nursery also has recently employed Harley Beasley and therapy dog Teddy to work with the children four days a week. ‘Harley plans regular individual sessions with some of our children, supporting various individual needs,’ says Emma. This includes supporting a child with selective mutism to help build her confidence using various strategies to encourage language, while other children simply enjoy stroking Teddy or throwing a ball for him.
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
- The children were concerned when the guinea pigs and rabbits needed to visit the vet to have vaccinations, so staff spoke to them about the role of a vet and why they needed to go. This inspired them to set up a vet role-play area with linked resources and books.
- Pre-school children have learned more about farming by joining the Farmer Time scheme (see Further information), where they have video calls with a real farmer.
- Children enjoy the calm surrounding of the farm area and staff set up provocations for them there, such as small-world play with animals and art activities.
- Staff take children to the local pet shop so they can make links with the wider community.
Partnership with parents
Children's wider families are now even more closely linked to the nursery by becoming involved with the care of the animals and allotment. A group of parents cleared the space for the allotment and helped to build the raised beds for growing crops in.
‘Now one of the children's granddad's attends the nursery once a week to help tend the allotment, sort which plants to grow and when to harvest them,’ says Emma. ‘He talks to the children about what to do and why and to the staff too because none of us are green-fingered.’
There is also a rota of parent volunteers who go to the nursery farm at the weekends to help to clean out the animals and collect the eggs. ‘The partnership working with parents and families is really lovely and parents absolutely love it too,’ comments Emma. ‘They can see what their children are doing during the week. The children are so proud of the animals and a lot of parents say how much they talk about them at home.’
Melanie comments, ‘The children's confidence and sense of belonging is flourishing by taking the lead and helping their parents understand how to care for the animals. Our children are able to take care, be gentle, problem-solve and engage in sustained shared thinking. It is also a great opportunity for our families to get to know each other. Some of our families have buddied up and are coming in together to look after the animals.’
BOOK CORNER
Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell and Helen Oxenbury
The story of a hardworking duck, who has the very bad luck of living with a lazy farmer.
A Squash and a Squeeze by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
A little old lady lives all by herself in her house, but it's just too small, even for one.
Click, Clack, Moo – Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin
Farmer Brown has a problem. His cows like to type…
The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza) by Philomen Sturges and Amy Walrod
A different twist on a familiar tale about an industrious Little Red Hen.
Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins
In this popular classic, Rosie the hen walks around the farmyard, pursued by a hungry but clumsy fox.
Oliver's Vegetables by Vivian French and Alison Bartlett
Oliver won't eat anything but chips until he makes a deal with his vegetable-growing grandpa.
Going Wild series: The Wild Weather Book/ The Wild City Book / The Stick Book by Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield
There's loads of inspiration packed into these books on what to do in the great outdoors.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Farmer Time, co-ordinated by LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming): https://leaf.eco/farmertime/home
